


Discrepencies

by quentintarrantino



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Secretly Married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-20
Updated: 2013-08-20
Packaged: 2017-12-24 03:32:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/934805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quentintarrantino/pseuds/quentintarrantino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stacker noticed first. Mako really was the one to piece it together, she always is, the clever girl. Tendo was next but he chanced upon it quite by accident. Raleigh wasn’t top of the class by his own admission, which was why no one was surprised when he found out so late. By the time everyone else found out it was old news but still quite the event to watch.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discrepencies

**Author's Note:**

> first Pacific Rim fic, it took me a long time to try and work their characters out and I still don't think I did a very good job but hey it's my first run hopefully it'll only get better.  
> EDIT: changed the name, sorry for confusion love you

Stacker noticed first.

He had been in the lab getting a briefing from Dr. Gottlieb concerning the Breach’s patterns and whether or not setting up some kind of device to monitor would be effective. The man was scribbling furiously away on his chalkboard and idly the Marshal had looked over to the other side of the cramped lab and spotted Dr. Geiszler who was hunched over a mass of Kaiju flesh that looked like it had taken quite a beating. He was too busy to even bother prodding at his labmate for which Stacker was blessedly grateful, he grew tired of prying them apart when they were at each other’s throats, and with his eyes focused on the other scientist he saw something slip from his shirt, held only by a small loose chain around his neck.

A ring, almost like a wedding band, and Stacker was taken aback by the thought that maybe Dr. Geiszler had someone waiting for him back wherever he came from. “You never told me you were a married man Doctor.” Pentacost boomed, making a weak attempt at conversation.

Newton Geiszler looked up, his glasses spattered with guts and blood and his arms gripping what looked suspiciously like intestines, his brow furrowed in confusion. “What?” he said, as though he hadn’t heard him right over his own thoughts. Stacker looked over to see that Dr. Gottlieb had and he was standing suddenly very still, his arm still poised to write.

“The ring,” he explained, gesturing to it. “Who’s the lucky girl?” there was a cracking sound and the Marshal glanced back to see that Hermann had broken his piece of chalk.

Dr. Geiszler’s eyes traveled down to the little ring swinging over the carcass before turning a little pink at the cheeks. “Me? Oh- I-I’m not married-,”

“Marshal if you please.” Dr. Gottlieb interrupted him sharply, pushing the board back to reveal a finished equation that would most likely hold the answer to his question, Stacker let the subject drop, inspecting the nervous man with the rumpled hair briefly before shuffling to the other side of the room in a few steps to properly inspect the chalk scribbles.

//

Mako really was the one to piece it together, she always is, the clever girl.

The Marshal hadn’t passed along any information regarding his day in the lab, Newton’s ring or any of the odd behavior that went with it when he asked, she had to figure it all out herself and it only took a few weeks after she arrived at Shatterdome.

The doctors were never really far from one another, the bickering was almost like their way of displaying affection, a very loud obnoxious way to show it but everyone had their own special ways she assumed. Dr. Gottlieb and her got along quite well in fact, she wasn’t one for unnecessary chatter and neither was he and on some days when it was too loud in the cafeteria she would seek refuge in his lab, eating her lunch and they would discuss trivial things like Chaos Theory and the latest transgressions of Newt Geiszler which always sparked some kind of well thought out retort from the other side of the room.

“Dude what are you eating?” Newt had said once to Hermann after Mako had started appearing over a steady course of a few days.

His labmate had given him the stink eye but poked at his food. “Some poor attempt at spaghetti, when was the last time you’ve eaten?” the question, like most of Hermann Gottlieb’s words, were sharp and sounded almost like an insult but there was genuine concern behind this one.

Newt, who had been tapping something away at his computer waved his hand flippantly which either meant that he didn’t remember or it had been recently and his partner shouldn’t worry. Judging by the withering glare given in response Mako supposed it was the first. “Is there a meatball?” Geiszler asked, eyes still rooted to his monitor.

“Yes.” The other doctor replied stiffly.

Mako watched in silent fascination as Newt, who had been stationed in a little rolling chair, scooted himself onto the other edge of the lab where the pair of them had been sitting and leaned forward with his mouth open, looking up at his friend imploringly and with a sigh that suggested he was hugely put upon the meatball was speared with a fork and shoved into Newton’s mouth who smiled as he chewed gratefully before scurrying back to his side. Hermann muttered something about good for nothing Kaiju groupies for at least fifteen minutes afterwards and Mako’s eyes began to open to the strange little world within this lab.

Small details which were so hidden they were often looked over started to unfold. The way Hermann’s own wedding band was usually so covered in chalk dust that the gold was bleached white and it blended perfectly with the rest of his hand, or how after digging through some files that Tendo had given to her she noticed that Dr. Hermann Gottlieb and Dr. Newton Geiszler had both been assigned the same room. She kept all of these discoveries close to her, not saying anything, after living on an army base for so much time Mako felt that these two should at least have one secret to themselves.

//

Tendo was next but he chanced upon it quite by accident.

It was late, impossibly late and most of the base was still asleep but report deadlines for the two resident research department heads were due right now and needed upstairs for a meeting and when the pair had failed to get them an irritated Tendo had been sent down to bring the reports up himself. Grumbling all the way there he had thought of every monologue he could deliver, formulating the best one in his head and drawing satisfaction from the fact that he could release it on them for being late and forcing him to make the trek down.

Opening the door to the lab and stalking in he saw two things. One was that the reports were nicely placed on the corner of Hermann’s desk as though they were supposed to be picked up, and two was the bodies strewn on the small couch in the corner of the lab.

The couch was usually occupied by visitors such as himself or Mako, Tendo assumed they were the only ones who were close enough to the scientists to call them their friends, and even then friends was a loose term. He and Newt were friends at least, they ate lunch out by the Jaegers and went drinking sometimes but what he saw now made him think that he really did not know Newt at all.

Both were asleep, their heads lolling and Newt’s mouth was open, his glasses on the floor like they had slipped off sometime during this nap session. Hermann was stretched across Newt, his head just under the curve of his labmate’s neck so they fit together comfortably and Dr. Geiszlers hands were wound around the other doctor’s shoulders. Their breathing was in unison and the dark circles under both of their eyes confirmed that this rest was one both had absolutely needed. Tendo found himself unable to move from the scene however, staring at them with a mix of bewilderment and shock, mostly at the fact that Hermann was allowing anyone to touch him, and in such an intimate way.

As if his thoughts had roused him, Dr. Gottlieb stirred and the man standing before them tensed, suddenly ashamed at gawking at the pair of them like they were sideshow attractions. He looked to the door and wondered if he could make a break for it with the reports but by then it was too late and the mathematician had cracked his eyelids and saw the technician. He expected some kind of verbal assault but there wasn’t one. Hermann lifted his head to see Newt was still asleep and with a grumble he tried to sit up, pushing Dr. Geiszler’s hands off of him and letting them flop onto his stomach. “Did you get the reports?” he asked once he managed to untangle himself, rubbing his face miserably like he had been woken from the best sleep of his life. Tendo, remembering himself, held up his hand to show that he had acquired them and Hermann glanced at his watch which seemed to sober him up a bit more.

“What are you doing here you idiot? They were needed on the bridge twenty minutes ago!” even coming out of near comatose sleep the doctor’s tongue still packed enough of a punch to leave Tendo hurting and he began to step back towards the door, arms extended in some kind of apology for waking him but Hermann wasn’t listening, he was standing up with the aid of his cane and bent over Newton, long white fingers pressed to his face while me murmured something about getting up and going to bed. Newton groaned in response and rolled over.

Tendo realized he was indeed late and after running through the entirety of the base he finally made it after receiving a disapproving glance from Stacker but the reports were in the right place and he was off the hook for the night, sagging in his seat as Mako exited the briefing room and perched beside him amicably. For all his exhaustion he wasn’t too tired to share his findings with the girl and launching into a recount of what he had seen Mako’s coy smile made him deflate a bit replaced by a feeling of betrayal. “You _knew_?” he complained, pressing his hand to his chest as though he was hurt. “I thought we were friends you have to tell me this stuff!”

Miss Mori simply widened her grin, standing up to make her way back to the dormitories. “It wasn’t my place to tell!” she said in Japanese over her shoulder. Tendo cursed her observation skills.  

//

Raleigh wasn’t top of the class by his own admission, which was why no one was surprised when he found out so late.

It was a night of celebration and everyone was tangled together laughing and happy that for at least now, the threat of the Kaiju was done and while Stacker had ordered a reset on the clock and that there was no time for celebration people were still grouping off after the night was through to form little parties and drink to their victories. Raleigh had ended up sitting in Mako’s room with Tendo, nursing a beer while they smiled and laughed and pretended like they weren’t at war. It was pleasant and Raleigh had forgotten how much he had missed it, Mako had declined the alcohol but had revealed that she had a hidden stash of chocolate she’d been collecting and Tendo had practically cried with joy as he took a bar for himself and they ate in comfortable silence.

It got late and both the pilots and the technician were exhausted and knew an early morning was ahead of them so at last they said their goodbyes and Tendo departed for his own quarters while Raleigh said goodnight to Mako with a small smile and climbed down the steps to cross the hall into his room. While he was opening his door two voices echoed off the halls in drunken calls for heroics and triumph which intrigued him enough to venture a ways down the corridor to investigate.

Dr. Geiszler and Dr. Gottlieb, both rather drunk were leaning on each other and laughing like a pair of idiots, Raleigh observed from a safe distance partially hidden and neither seemed to notice him, entirely wrapped up in themselves. Newt still had a beer in his hand and he held it aloft every time someone passed him “WE RULE DUDE!” he would shout after them, making a rather inhibited Hermann snicker and snort.

Raleigh had seen enough to know that the pair had just had one too many and would be hurting in the morning and that alone was enough to make him smile and as he turned to leave their hushed words made him stop, dragging him back to watch with morbid curiosity.

“Aren’t…. aren’t you glad that you married me I mean, man I’m a total rock star now.” Newt told his colleague, sipping from his beer and detaching himself from his coworker to slump against the wall nearest to him.  

Hermann leaned heavily on his cane and watched the man across from him after rolling his eyes, less drunk then Newton but still pretty damn drunk. “I regret the decision more and more every day.” He retorted and this made Dr. Geiszler giggle, the bottle slipping from his fingers and falling to the ground with an empty clunk.

“Whatever.” Newton said, his head cocked up at him with his eyes widened slightly and his mouth pulled into a smile.

Raleigh felt like he was watching a train wreck but was unable to pull his eyes away from the scene, looking at the pair with their foreheads nearly touching as their voices dropped so low he couldn’t even hear them and their smiles had gone from goofy to intimate and the pilot felt as though he was intruding on something so painfully private if they discovered him Dr. Gottlieb would beat him to death with his cane.

The hallways were quiet now, no one was passing and Newton had made himself stand all the way back up and they weren’t smiling anymore, something Hermann was telling him (Raleigh could hear it but it didn’t sound like English, German maybe?) seemed urgent and wrought with emotion because it reflected in his tone. Raleigh had never seen either in this way and while the initial shock of them being… together had worn off he wasn’t sure the sight of them looking so incredibly wrecked would ever ebb. The words being exchanged were serious ones and after a few beats of silence Newt closed the distance and Raleigh knew it was time to go, their kiss was deep and there was no way the pilot could dismiss it for drunken tomfoolery. The tattooed man’s hands cupped his _husband’s_ (Raleigh was sure he would never get over that, he wondered if anyone else knew, how could they? Up until five minutes ago he had assumed they were lab partners who spent the nights plotting each other’s deaths.)  jaw and their lips worked in an almost obscenely familiar way which suggested whatever arrangement they had it wasn’t new.

Their kiss was short lived because Hermann laughed and Newt broke away with a frown. “What’s so funny?” he complained, sounding like a petulant child denied dessert.

“Drift compatibility.” Hermann told him, their faces impossibly close.

“What about it.” Newt grumbled, pulling apart to take his glasses off and wipe them on his tattered and dirty shirt, seeming quite upset that his moment had been interrupted to have this conversation.

At this point his drunken lab mate launched back into German, speaking rapidly and Raleigh had seen enough to resonate with him for quite a long time and Newt grew tired of listening to his… his whatever he was to him talk and simply began kissing him again and Hermann didn’t appear to have an qualms with it.

The Jaeger pilot laid in bed for a very long time and when he reported his discovery to Tendo and Mako over breakfast they exchanged looks and said they were wondering how long it would take him to catch on. Dr. Geiszler was walking past them as they had the discussion and Mako took time to say hello and Newton nodded, his eyes bloodshot from more than just the drift and he looked as though every noise was a clap of thunder, several decorative bruises lined his neck that Raleigh shuddered to think about what might’ve caused them. The idea of Dr. Gottlieb and Dr. Geiszler being together was weird enough without thinking of them being frisky.

When he went down to the lab later to retrieve samples on behalf of Mako he had to keep his eyes fixed at the wall in order to avoid looking too closely at Hermann’s neck which was in much worse condition despite the fact that he was wearing a turtleneck to cover them all up and took care to smack Newt with his cane every time he passed him. Dr. Geiszler took every blow like a champion and after a resounding smack he simply handed the lab results to Raleigh with a smile, ignoring the magnificent glare he was receiving from the other end of the room.

//

By the time everyone else found out it was old news but still quite the event to watch.

The Breach was closed and the “No Apocalypse” party was in full swing, the entire Shatterdome rocked with cheers and drinking and it seemed the world was joining the chorus, if you walked outside the shouting and music seemed to pulse through the very earth. This would be one party no one would forget soon.

The dead were being mourned, but through the celebration of their lives not the misery of their deaths. Mako and Raleigh stuck by each other’s sides, Tendo and several of his friends from command were there as well and they had invited both the doctors but they were nowhere in sight, the mess hall was crowded with people and everywhere you turned there was someone new to hug and rejoice with.

Newton had put on a clean shirt for the occasion, the blood vessels in his eye matching his husband’s as he looked over his shoulder to see Hermann waiting by the door with his cane at ready. This was it, the war was over and the one thing they had been working towards all this time was finished, the existential crisis was kicking in, Newt felt anxiety twirl and spin in his stomach and through the drift he knew Hermann was trying to suppress similar feelings. The party could be heard through the walls, the concrete rocked with the music and both of them knew they had earned it, things would be changing rapidly in the weeks to follow and it was the least they could do to share this one night and then deal with the shifts later.

They walked mostly in silence on their way to the mess hall, people passing them and giving them looks or those who knew who they were would embrace them, ignoring Hermann’s stiffness and displeasure at being touched. Climbing the stairs to the huge room they took a moment to inspect the party and relief they hadn’t dared to feel yet was suddenly let loose like the levy had broken and every emotion that had been stuffed away was free flowing. Newt and Hermann looked at each other and the tendrils of the neural handshake still held strong, the warmth in their fingertips not attributed to happiness that the war was over but at the fact that they were still here, together. Love was a strange thing, Newt decided as they turned their heads and Tendo saw them, holding his beer over his head to avoid spilling as he shouted their names so loud that everyone’s eyes moved to the two of them.

The noise died down almost instantly, a few people still carrying conversations but the majority of the attention shifted to them and very carefully Hermann’s fingers laced through Newt’s, his husband’s wedding band coming off the chain for tonight to be put on his finger and the response was so loud that Newt was afraid Hong Kong was going to think that another Kaiju had made contact. Bodies surged around them as they climbed down the steps, Mako, Raleigh, and Tendo separated the crowd just enough so that the doctors could make their way safely to the table.

“Well well if it isn’t the conquering heroes.” The technician said, sipping his beer and smirking at them. Mako’s smile was so wide Newt thought it would fall off her face. “You gonna kiss or something I think your adoring fans are sort of expecting it now, with the wedding rings and all.”

Hermann looked over his shoulder and saw that indeed everyone was still looking at them and the masses were cheering them on. Looking to Newton he saw how alive he seemed as he took in the hoards that were all cheering… for them. They had saved the world, the two of them and a Kaiju fetus although Hermann would rather not credit the fetus. Turning back to look at Mako, who smiled even wider and nodded in encouragement, Dr. Gottlieb appeared at a loss as to how to act in this situation but Newt let the herd mentality sweep him away.

He wrapped his arms around Hermann’s waist and kissed him and everyone went nuts and when they finally separated both of them were pleasantly flushed and the attention had shifted to something else but Newton was breathless and he readjusted his glasses to grin. “That was totally awesome.”

Hermann had to agree, just this once.

“You guys are so cute it’s disgusting.” Tendo chimed in and the look he was rewarded with should’ve been a legend on its own.  


End file.
